Abstract

Differential cross sections of the reaction γd→K+Σ−(p) have been measured with the CLAS detector at Jefferson Lab using incident photons with energies between 1.1 and 3.6 GeV. This is the first complete set of strangeness photoproduction data on the neutron covering a broad angular range. At energies close to threshold and up to Eγ∼1.8 GeV, the shape of the angular distribution is suggestive of the presence of s -channel production mechanisms. For Eγ>1.8 GeV, a clear forward peak appears and becomes more prominent as the photon energy increases, suggesting contributions from t-channel production mechanisms. These data can be used to constrain future analysis of this reaction.